Ontario high school teachers have become the second union to walk away from talks with the provincial government.

Ontario high school teachers have become the second union to walk away from talks with Queen’s Park, a move that will turn up the heat on a government that has staked its reputation on labour peace in schools.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) said Monday it had left voluntary talks after the government rejected its offer to accept a two-year wage freeze but not give up the right to bank sick days until retirement, said president Ken Coran.

Moreover, the union is seeking a four-year deal that would include cost-of-living increases in the final two years, whereas the government is seeking a two-year deal only. The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario walked away from talks earlier this month over Ontario’s call for a public-sector wage freeze to help wipe out the deficit by 2017.

“I thought it was a pretty bold move on our part to agree to a zero-per cent increase in each of the first two years, plus other changes that would save as much money as the government wants to save — but they turned it down flat,” said Coran, whose union made the offer to government last Wednesday, only to have government reject it Thursday.

“Until we see a revised position from the government we’re not prepared to go back to the table.”

Education Minister Laurel Broten admitted Monday the discussions were difficult but called them “necessary.

“We need to meet the current fiscal realities,” she said. “We need OSSTF to remain at the table so that we can have meaningful conversations about whether or not their proposal does that.”

Premier Dalton McGuinty said it was a mistake for the OSSTF to quit bargaining.

“Some of the best political advice I ever got from my mother I got on my wedding day. She said, ‘Whatever happens, keep talking,’ ” the premier told reporters.

“So I say to my friends the teachers, and I say to my friends the doctors, and everybody else with whom we’re going to have to engage in the difficult conversations: ‘That what’s important that we keep talking.’ ”

Since taking office the Liberals have taken over bargaining of financial matters from local school boards through an unofficial, voluntary system of province-wide union talks. Non-monetary issues are still hammered out between local trustees and union locals, but the provincial unions do the bulk of the heavy lifting at these ad hoc “discussion tables” with the province.

But the system hit a roadblock this year when the government called for a wage freeze in its budget rather than raising it at the bargaining table — a move that prompted the elementary teachers’ union to walk out and the OSSTF to ask Ontario’s Labour Relations Board to rule whether such centralized bargaining is even legal.

The province also called for a freeze within teachers’ existing salary grid — annual increases based on experience, rather than a raise negotiated for everyone — but the OSSTF did not agree to this. However, it did offer to take over employee benefit plans and have the union run it on a province-wide basis, which Coran said would lift $400 million in unfunded liabilities off school boards’ books. The union also proposed the government offer $5,000 incentive to senior teachers to retire, thus saving thousands of dollars and opening up the job market for lower-paid newcomers.

With files from Rob Ferguson, Queen’s Park Bureau

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